High school seniors play pranks. And as pranks go, this one's pretty good.

Lowell High School officials are trying to find out who wrote a certain letter this week at the academically venerable school.

The penis letter, that is.

In other words, they're taking this very seriously.

Thankfully, we don't have to.

The letter landed in teachers' mailboxes advising them that the school district was requiring "mandatory penis inspections on all male students, faculty and staff at Lowell High School."

The note, signed by "Richard L. Dong, Head Penis Inspector" (insert Beavis and Butthead chortle here), includes a small illustration of what can only be described as a patriotic penis and the motto, "No Penis Left Behind."

School and district officials were not amused - or at least they didn't admit it.

"Late Monday afternoon, flyers announcing a phony inspection notice for students were posted in the halls of Lowell High," according to a district statement. "The flyers, which mentioned a male body part, were removed and the dean of students at Lowell is investigating. Lowell administration is regarding this incident as a senior prank, and the infractions will be addressed according to school and district policies."

Now, compared to the senior prank in New Jersey that resulted in urine in the hallways and the arrest of 62 students, this one doesn't seem quite as serious.

In fact, if any Lowell students are punished, it should be for penis plagiarism.

Possibly the best senior prank was when the Berkeley High class of 1980 put a Volkswagen Bug in a hallway, squeezed in so tight no one could get through.

Penis note vs. VW? No contest.

- Jill Tucker

Now, let's get serious: The Warriors' ownership wasted no time this week showing coach Mark Jackson the door. The fate of the basketball team's architect for its new San Francisco arena? Still murky.

When the team was focused on Piers 30-32, the high-profile firm Snøhetta crafted the schemes for a glassy orb-like arena amid sloped plazas and low retail buildings. Now that the destination is a Mission Bay block with lab buildings to the north and south, the design effort goes back to square one.

Asked this week if his firm still has a role, Snøhetta co-founder Craig Dykers was optimistic but noncommittal.

"We're negotiating with them to see if there's a way to move forward together," but nothing has been settled, Dykers said. "Whatever happens, if we continue or not, we're on their team. We love them as a client."

Hedged affection also was the tone struck by team spokesman P.J. Johnson: While "obviously the design will evolve to reflect the new location, no design team changes have been decided on ... everyone's been really happy with Craig and Snøhetta's work."

Now you know - nobody knows. Or nobody's saying. And in the ownership's defense, selecting an architect hasn't been at the top of the to-do list these past few tumultuous weeks.